Bruges, Belgium

Bruges is a beautiful little town in Belgium. While most people visit Brussels, we opted for Bruges instead. The town is so small, we literally were able to walk from one end of it to the other in about 45ish minutes. It truly feels like you’re living in medieval times! The buildings are all old, but people actually live in them and work in them. The whole town just has an ancient feel to it and is absolutely darling.

Our coushurfing host lived outside of Bruges itself so we arrive from Paris via train and then caught a bus out to his house. The next morning he brought us into town when he was going to work and let use leave our backpacks in his office for the day, which saved us some money! We headed into the main square (Markt Square) area around 9:15ish and it was deserted. Europeans are not early risers and we had the entire place to ourselves. All around were little cafes and the Belfort was right there as well. We wanted to climb the stairs to the top (not advised if you are claustrophobic). So we looked around a bit and then headed over to it. I believe it opened at 9am, and only 70 people are allowed in at a time. There’s just not enough room on the stairs! We waited in line for about 30 minutes and found out we were visitor number 90 and 91. So close, but that meant we had to wait for visitors to come out before going in. Since we’d already been there so long, we decided to give it 10 more minutes and then leave if the line wasn’t moving by then- I was anticipating us being there another hour!

Surprisingly the line went quickly and we were able to make it. Many sights in Europe offer discounts to anyone under age 26, and the Belfort was one such place. We purchased our tickets and headed up. There were breaks every 60 stairs or so with floors and rooms full of old objects. We explored and then continued on. The bell at the top chimes every 15 minutes, so you’ll definitely be able to hear it while there! I’d say our total time spent actually climbing and exploring was no more than an hour tops. Next time I’d aim to get there right at 9am to be able to get in sooner- but definitely arrive early. When we left the line was WAY longer than when we’d arrived.

We decided to head to another square and grab some Belgian Waffles along the way. Although I’m told these are just for the tourists and not true authentic food from Belgium, you HAVE to have some while there. They were incredible, the best waffles I’ve ever had. I’m trying to find a recipe to use here because it’s not waffle batter they use, but instead an actual dough. The waffles were much more dense, but absolutely delicious with strawberries and whipped cream on top- or nutella for Pablo.

We walked on to the Burg Square which wasn’t too exciting and then headed to the Rozenhoedkaai, the top photo spot in Bruges. We sat here and finished our waffles along with snapping a few photos. It was a little tough to find the spot at first, but once we spotted the flock of tourists we knew we had it.

After seeing “Monuments Men” earlier in the year, Pablo wanted to see Michelangelo’s famous “Madonna and Child” statue. So we stopped by the Church of Our Lady. The church was actually undergoing some major renovations and there was a large section we couldn’t visit, but this didn’t hinder our views of the statue! Plus it made entrance cheaper, I think it was 2-3 Euros each. We spent around 30-45 minutes here before moving on.

We walked on from there to see the Begijnhof neighborhood where a group of religious women had chosen to live. It was a quiet area and everyone spoke in reverent whispers. We didn’t see any of the women, but their homes were there and the trees all looked a bit strange. Honestly, not a super exciting stop.

However the neighborhood is only a 30 second detour to the side of the Minnewater (Lake of Love). There are lots of swans and ducks wandering around and many boats offering to give you a tour of the city via the canals and waterways. It was fun walking around and exploring this area, lots of pretty spots to sit. This is also the closest end of the city to the train station, which was only about a 15 minute walk from the lake.

Unforunately our friend and his office were on the opposite end, so we trekked back, grabbed our bags and then headed through the whole town again to get to the train station. It took maybe around 30-40ish minutes walking at a brisk pace to get back out to the train station. There is one bus stop in town where you can grab buses out there, but it doesn’t save a whole lot of time by the time you walk there, find a bus, wait for it and then ride it to the train station. If you’re able to walk it, it’ll save you some money and it’s enjoyable spending the extra time in the quaint little town!

We did learn that the train from Bruges to Brussels is PACKED. It’s only an hour ride, thank goodness, but there were no seats for us and not even any space to sit on the floor. We had to stand the whole way. This is where we learned that if you use a Eurail Pass and don’t pay extra for a reservation on each train, you aren’t guaranteed a seat. On most trains we were able to get a seat, but there were a few where we rode on the floor. It can get frustrating when you’re settled into one seat just to have someone come and tell you they have it reserved and ask you to move. I started getting anxious every time the train made a stop, wondering if we’d have to pack up and move! Mercifully, our other trains had room for us to sit on our journey from Bruges as we headed on to Luxemborg next.